The Nation Newspaper

Tag: handover

  • As May 29 handover date approaches

    Feverish activities are on in most of the 36 states of the federation on the change of leadership batons enshrined in our statue book as May 29. Hurried award of contracts are being made, rushed appointments are being made and humongous outstanding payments are being made by the outgoing administrations, as if government is no longer a continuum.

    If even the intention is genuine, the temptation to read ulterior motive to these last-minute moves is high; which is why this column is calling for restraint, so that the recriminations that usually follow such actions will be unnecessary. You never know, such untidy moves may be why our people say that when the white man wants to leave our shores, he defecates on his chair. Interesting times post-May 29 lies ahead!

     

    When will some people understand what Easter is all about?

    Believers and non-believers participate in the jollification that is Easter period, but I wonder how many ponder the essence of the season.

    Easter happened for a reason: that whatever evil act that is not of God cannot endure. But how many of those who join in the celebration understand or embrace the spirit of Easter? Some are petty, mean and wicked that they sound as God in talking about the fate of their fellow human beings. Yet, this set of people owe the temporary power they are exercising wrongly to a more appreciative benefactor who understands that all power flows from God who gives and takes as He wills.

    This time offers such people a golden opportunity to mend their ways, factor God more into their every action and see if it is not more profitable than their bad ways of deriving sadistic pleasure in wrecking other people’s lives. Truth is that they will be forced to stop work when they encounter God’s own chosen who can neither be shaken nor uprooted from their destiny-roots.

    Like the word of the Bible that says the words from the Cross are like balderdash to those who want to perish, so also are the divinely-guided words from this columnist. Those who truly love life must embrace them. May the reason for this Season continue to ring through and true in ALL ears!

  • Akwa Ibom govt to handover Ibom Specialist Hospital to experts

    The Ibom Specialist Hospital in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, will be handed over to experts in hospital administration, Governor Udom Emmanuel said yesterday.

    Emmanuel spoke after inspecting equipment at the modern quaternary health centre.

    He criticised Cardiocare, former managers, for their inexperience, and blamed it for the downward fortune in the hospital.

    “We cannot put up this kind of facilities and give it to anybody to run. We want to bring people who are experts. These are people who are real hospital administrators. I don’t intend to go and bring a cardiologist and turn him to a hospital administrator overnight,” he said.

    He maintained that he was undaunted by the blackmail peddled by the former consultants in the media.

    Emmanuel said he was expecting some consultants from the United States.

    “They have the experience, they have the technology and they have what it takes. They have the skills. We need to bring them in here and make sure this hospital is fully functional and I want to see that everything is on ground and then we are back to full steam.”

    The governor expressed happiness that the dialysis unit is functioning, and hoped  the oncology section could also perform well.

    He said he heard mixed stories about the dialysis centre, but on arrival, he saw a patient being treated and the machines in good condition.

    “Right now, we have five new machines working so well. Oncology is something that I really really crave to start here because I know how much I spend every month on these facilities outside this country. The machine is not a problem. We’ve actually cost the machines. It’s the consultants now that we are actually trying to recruit.”

    He promised that the new consultants are from Africa and other parts of the world and are interested in working at the hospital.

    Acting Medical Director Dr Iniobong Etukudo said there was no equipment for dialysis until intervention of the governor.

    He commended Emmanuel’s passion to improve health care in the state.

  • Candy City queen to handover in July

    Candy City queen to handover in July

    One year after her reign as queen of online beauty pageantry, Face of CandyCity, Nneke Somto, is set to relinquish her throne.
    The Port Harcourt, Rivers State-based queen who will be handing over in July revealed how the pageant has helped her live her dream as an online model and also has given her a level of popularity.
    “For me, one of the essences of Face of CandyCity is to groom young single ladies to become better,” she said.
    “It has created a huge impact in my life; the publicity so far, has been excellent.
    “It was everything I wanted and more. You can’t begin to imagine it was my best year so many doors opened for me and I loved every one of them.”
    She also advised contestants for the pageant how prepare for the pageant and how to conduct themselves if they emerge winners.
    “Winning is one thing and performing your duty as a queen is another,” she said.
    “You have to bring relevance to your office as the Queen. Draw positive attention to yourself and create a long lasting impression like I did. Contestants should be prepared for the task ahead, the winner must brace up in other to thrive in the industry considering the overwhelming influx.”

  • Lagos seeks handover of Ikorodu-Itoikin-Ijebu-Ode Road

    The Lagos State Government is to apply to the Federal Government for the formal handover of the Ikorodu/Itoikin/Ijebu-Ode Road, Governor Akinwumi Ambode has said.
    The governor said the road was the only one yet to be rehabilitated since it was built in 1967.
    “The road was built by the Mobolaji Johnson administration in Lagos State in 1967. But it is not just about the road, but about the economy of that area,’’ he said.
    Ambode said the proposal, if approved, would enable his administration to improve the lives of the people of the area.
    He said new street light projects were ongoing between Ijora and Apapa, the Oshodi/Mile 2/Apapa Expressway and Lagos-Badagry Expressway reconstruction. On drainage problems around the Victoria Garden City, the governor said the Greener Lagos Initiative project would address all the drainage issues in the state on a round-the-clock basis, “to give all Lagos residents a healthier lifestyle’’.
    His administration, Ambode said, was taking a holistic approach to transportation issues through the roads, waterways, walkways and rail.
    “About six million people are using the walkways daily in Lagos. Many children walk to school, market women also walk to the markets, so we have to keep our walkways clean and safe,’’ the governor said.
    On where he got the funds for his development initiatives, Ambode said the money was from taxes and allocations from the Federation Account.
    “People are voluntarily coming up to pay their taxes, without necessarily waiting to be hounded, because they can see what we are doing with the money,’’ he said.
    According to him, a lot of inner city roads are being upgraded in various parts of the metropolis, to open up new areas and facilitate motorists movements.
    Ambode said his administration took the initiative to refurbish federal roads and street lights in the State, without asking for reimbursement from the national government.
    “Some of these roads pose problems to the people of Lagos and they do not make us to be globally competitive. So it is in our interest that the roads are upgraded,’’ he said.
    The governor explained that his administration was also working on inner roads to link the ongoing flyover project at Abule-Egba.
    He said a new road was being built to link the Meiran/AIT Road to the Lagos State University (LASU) and the Lagos-Badagry expressway.
    The road, he said, was also being extended to enable motorists link Sango-Ota without going through the Lagos-Abeokuta expressway.
    He said the state government was also planning to upgrade a major road leading to the airport.

  • Start preparing handover note, APC advises Yuguda

    Start preparing handover note, APC advises Yuguda

    Ahead of the governorship election in Bauchi State, Governor Isa Yuguda of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)  has been asked to start preparing his handover note.

    Yuguda has also been charged to perish his senatorial ambition in the Bauchi South District and go back to his farm as he promised.

    APC chieftain Alhaji Adamu Lar gave the advice at a press conference. He said: ”Yuguda cannot win any election in the state again. Yuguda should get ready to hand over to the APC governorship candidate, Mohammed Abubakar, who is stooped to conquer the PDP governorship candidate, Hon. Auwal Jatau come February 28, 2015”.

    Yuguda, a former Managing Director of Merchant Bank, Minister of State for Works and Transport, Aviation  Minister is, vying for the Senate against a retired Controller of Customs, Malam Ali aWakili.

    Lar,who is also the Bauchi South Vice Chairman of the APC, said: “My advice to Yuguda is based on the truth that he has damaged and ravaged the state economy so very irresponsibly,and does not deserve any office in the state anymore”.

    “Besides, the governor has for the whole of his second tenure refused to democratically conduct local government election and by so doing he has deprived the people of development and due representation at grassroots level”, Lar stated.

  • Start preparing handover note, APC advises Yuguda

    Start preparing handover note, APC advises Yuguda

    Ahead of the governorship election in Bauchi State, Governor Isa Yuguda of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)  has been asked to start preparing his handover note.

    Yuguda has also been charged to perish senatorial ambition in the Bauchi South District and go back to his farm as he promised.

    An APC chieftain Alhaji Adamu Lar gave the advice at a press conference. He said: ”Yuguda cannot win any election in the state again”.

    Lar said Yuguda “Get ready to hand over to the APC governorship candidate, Mohammed Abubakar, who is stooped to conquer the PDP governorship candidate Hon. Auwal Jatau come February 28,2015”.

    Yuguda, a former Managing Director of Merchant Bank, Minister of State for Works and Transport, Aviation  Minister is, vying for the Senate against a retired Controller of Customs, Malam Ali aWakili.

    Lar,who is also the Bauchi South Vice Chairman of the APC, said: “My advice to Yuguda is based on the truth that he has damaged and ravaged the state economy so very irresponsibly,and does not deserve any office in the state anymore”.

    “Besides, the governor has for the whole of his second tenure refused to democratically conduct local government election and by so doing he has deprived the people of development and due representation at grassroots level”, Lar stated.

  • Jonathan should be ready to hand over, says Kogi APC chairman

    Jonathan should be ready to hand over, says Kogi APC chairman

    The Kogi State Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Alhaji Haddy Ametuo, has urged President Goodluck Jonathan to start preparing his handing over notes.

    He added that the fabled 60-year reign of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) would come to an end.

    Ametuo spoke with reporters in Lokoja shortly after the APC presidential campaign rally, led by the party’s presidential candidate, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari.

    He expressed confidence that his party would send the PDP packing in next month’s general elections.

    He said majority of Nigerians, who are unhappy with the performance of the PDP since 1999, desired a change.

    He added that the massive crowd, which has been receiving Gen. Buhari and his entourage across the country, attested to the fact that Nigerians are tired of the PDP.

    Ametuo said the Buhari/Yemi Osinbajo ticket would develop the country, saying their partnership would provide purposeful leadership where insurgency, impunity and stealing with reckless abandon in governance among others would be a thing of the past.

    He thanked the people of the state for turning out in large numbers to receive Gen. Buhari.

    The party chairman said the APC would dislodge the PDP from power in the state, stressing that the state has been worse off under the present administration.

  • Handover of power plants to begin in October

    Handover of power plants to begin in October

    The Federal Government yesterday said it would start physical handing over of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) successor companies to the owners in the next one month.

    Disclosing this to State House correspondents yesterday, the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Power, Godknows Igali, said there would be a symbolic presentation of the ownership documents to them.

    The formal handing over of the documents, he said, is expected to be done by the President Goodluck Jonanthan on the 2nd of October, 2013.

    He said: “There is progress, we are in the last stages. There will be formal ceremony that will take place and is to hand over the documents to the new owners. There will be no physical handover until towards the end of this year. We are starting with handing over of the formal documentations, the protocol ceremony for the Mr. President to preside over after which, we have one month to undertake all cropping issues, for example labour.”

    “We are making very good progress in ensuring that all workers are paid. When you are dealing with paying accounts of workers, about 40,000 people, you have to be careful because it is not something you rush into. So, when there is wrong issue, then you come back.”

    “So, we think that when the formality of the documents is done, we still have another one month to ensure that we look into claims and so on before the final physical take off.” He added on the meeting yesterday, he said: “It pertains to most of the issues concerning the power sector.

     

     

     

     

     

  • PHCN’s investors grumble over assets handover

    PHCN’s investors grumble over assets handover

    Investors in the Power Holding Company (PHCN) successor firms are grumbling.

    They are yet to take over the companies after paying the bid price on August 21.

    The modalities for their takeover of the firms spread across the country are still being worked out.

    Besides, labour issues are yet unresolved.

    “The entire arrangement is unclear,” an official of one of the investing firms said at the weekend.

    The companies, which paid N358.04 billion into government coffers, are: West Power and Gas, the preferred bidder for the Eko Distribution Company; NEDC/KEPCO, Ikeja Distribution Company; 4Power Consortium, Port Harcourt Distribution Company; Vigeo Consortium, Benin Distribution Company; Aura Energy, Jos Distribution Company; and Kann Consortium, AbujaDistribution Company.

    Others are: Integrated Energy Distribution and Marketing Company, the preferred bidder for both the Ibadan and Yola Distribution Companies; Sahelian Power, Kano Distribution Company, Transcorp/Woodrock Consortium, Ughelli Power Plc; Amperion, Geregu Power Plc; Mainstream Energy Limited, Kainji Power Plc; and CMEC/EUAFRIC Energy JV, which made part-payment for the acquisition of Sapele Power Plc.

    The pending issues which the new owners will table before the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) tomorrow in Abuja, are inability of government to pay the severance package of the PHCN workers and failure to pay their full pension to the administrators.

    The National Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) is yet to come up with the methodology for defining tariff and the transition market, among other issues.

    Mr Ransom Owan, Chairman, Round Table Committee of the companies that bought PHCN firms, said government would regulate the electricity tariffs to protect consumer’s right.

    Owan told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Port Harcourt yesterday that electricity prices were controlled and governed by NERC as the protector of the consumer.

    He said the new PHCN owners would treat the consumers as “kings’’ since they stand to pay for the industry’s financial responsibilities.

    “Why won’t the consumer be king when generation, transmission and distribution of power are paid for by the consumer through rates that are controlled,’’ Owan said.

    The chairman said the new electricity owners were not expected to exceed the prescribed regulated price by the commission.

    He urged consumers to remain confident as their interest would be protected in the regulation of tariffs.

    Owan also said all existing employees of PHCN would be paid off 100 per cent by the Federal Government in line with labour unions demand.

    He said the new owners of PHCN also had an agreement with the government to retain some PHCN employees for a period of six months for continuity.

    “After being paid off by the Federal Government, the new electricity firms would take over from where government has stopped and pay the retained staff for the next six months,” he said.

    Owan said retention of some staff would enable the new owners build up the business and try to turn it around for the benefit of the country.

    He said the management of PHCN would continue its work with the equipment on ground, adding that the company had 60 per cent of the shares while the Federal Government still owns 40 per cent.

    Former President, Senior Staff Association of the defunct National Electric Power Authority, Mr Godwin Ifenacho, said the reforms’ objectives might not be achieved unless urgent steps are taking to address the loopholes in the privatisation process.

    Ifenacho said government had failed to provide a clear cut programmes on the handing over.

    He said: “It is disheartening to note that there are problems on the handing over process despite the fact that the companies after they have fulfilled their own side of the deal. The BPE appears not ready to handover assets to PHCN’s successor companies, hence the problems we are having. Why has the government not paid the severance package in full? What is delaying it? Does that mean that the government does not have enough money to pay the workers? Are there facilities on ground for the firms to start on a clean slate? These are the questions the government must answer to win the confidence of Nigerians that have been expecting improved electricity,’

    He said the government would be setting a bad precedent if it failed to allow the private operators to start on a strong footing.

  • Ondo CNPP: Faction tells chairman to handover

    The leadership crisis rocking the Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP) in Ondo State deepened yesterday as the caretaker committee set up by a faction of the group told the embattled Chairman, Chief Ayo Isijola, to vacate his office.

    Isijola, who was reportedly sacked by the faction led by the former General Secretary of the Conference, Prince Femi Ajibola, said he remains the state CNPP chairman.

    The faction announced Isijola’s “impeachment” last month and set up a five-man committee to oversee the CNPP’s affairs for six months, within which an election would be held.

    In a letter to Isijola yesterday, signed by the Secretary of the Caretaker

    Committee, Mr. Olusola Adeniyi, the committee directed Isijola to handover the conference’s property to it.

    The letter reads: “I was directed by the Ondo State CNPP General Assembly at its meeting on May 26 to refer to the CNPP’s resolution of May 2, where a change of leadership was effected and a Caretaker Committee, headed by Mrs. Yemisi Aladesaiye, replaced your good self in office.

    “You ceased to function as Ondo CNPP Chairman from May 3 and the decision has been communicated to you variously.”

    The committee warned Isijola to obey the directive, adding that it had sent copies of the letter to security agencies and the CNPP’s Southwest Zonal Office.

    Isijola said the faction was “engaging in an impossible venture”.

    He said he had been going to the CNPP Office everyday and had not seen anyone holding a meeting there.

    Isijola said Ajibola and two former executive were suspended by the CNPP for alleged anti-party activities.

    He said Ajibola was suspended indefinitely and replaced with Mr. Lawrence Kehinde.